Microsoft is willing to go to all kinds of lengths to push PC users onto Windows 10, but its new operating system is already seeing significant success in the enterprise, according to a new report from Gartner Inc. The analyst firm says an unprecedented number of businesses are evaluating Windows 10 with an eye to upgrading later this year.

According to Gartner, the interest from businesses is so big that Windows 10 blows away its predecessor Windows 7 in the enterprise adoption stakes.

In an interview with Computerworld, Gartner’s Steve Kleynhans says that enterprises are evolving in the way they prepare for updates now that Windows 10 is available, and they’re asking a lot more questions about the way it should be deployed, rather than the reasons for doing so.

“The level of interest expressed by our customer base, the type of questions they asking, indicates a much more rapid shift to Windows 10 than any previous operating system,” said Kleynhans. “Here we have seen that compressed, to about nine months. [Enterprises] are already asking ‘How should we do it?’ and ‘How are others’ pilots doing?’”

Ever-cautious enterprises still view Windows 10 as a new and unproven product, all the more so considering that many criticized the original July 2015 release as being unfinished and unstable. But the November Update, which Microsoft refers to as Build 1511, is considered to be far more stable, to the point that enterprises are now expressing an interest, Kleynhans reckons.

“From an enterprise standpoint, Windows 10 wasn’t complete or stable until about eight weeks ago. So from their perspective, the OS is only a couple of months old,” he explained.

Asked why enterprises were seemingly so keen on Windows 10, Kleynhans said it was a combination of factors, citing demand two-in-one devices like the Surface Pro 4, and also concerns that Windows 7 is edging closer towards its end-of-life date in 2020.

“Part of the interest in Windows 10 is that enterprises are very aware of the end-of-life of Windows 7,” he admitted.

Microsoft’s most recent figures show that Windows 10 was running on 200 million devices as of January 2016. Of these, 22 million are said to be enterprise devices.

Kleynhans says 2016 could well turn out to be the year that Windows 10 cracks the enterprise, but for the moment the vast majority of businesses are still evaluating and trialing the operating system. However, he predicts that we’re likely to see a wave of migrations in the coming months.